My home server hardware
by mr-vercetti
As I don’t like to pay big tech companies for services that are stealing my data, some time ago I decided to change something in my life and set up a home server. I mainly wanted to create a solution to sync files from many devices, organize my movie collection as well as having my own instance of some password manager. I knew what software I need, but I wasn’t sure about the hardware. And that’s how I started spending more and more time on the r/selfhosted and r/HomeServer subreddits.
Oh man 💀, it was long hours of reading and making difficult decisions, after all, I did not have an infinite amount of money, but I also wanted it to be equipment that would last me a good couple of years and which will be easy upgradable. It was also important to me that the server be quiet, and small so it wouldn’t draw attention in a home environment.
End of the day, I did it! I put together a server that has been running smoothly for a year now and runs services I need in about 30 docker containers. If you are interested in what services I selfhost and what software I use to manage the server, you can read about it here.
Ok, but what about my hardware choices? Let’s get down to it.
### 🔥 CPU
Since I didn’t want to buy a separate graphics card, it had to be a processor with an integrated GPU which will handle video transcoding with Jellyfin. The whole server was to use the Proxmox platform, (I ended up with Ubuntu on bare-metal) so I wanted it to have at least 4 cores.
### 💨 CPU cooler
The only right choice, dead silent and beautiful Noctua NH-L9a.
### ⚙️ Motherboard
Average and budget friendly AsRock A320M-ITX.
### 📝 RAM
Patriot Viper DDR4, 16 GB, 3200MHz, CL16
Many people on Reddit say that the only option for server usage is RAM with ECC (Error Correction Code), to maximally protect the server from data loss. However, I did not opt for such because of the price and the fact that the likelihood of an accident in which data will be corrupted by a RAM error is very low, and I keep several backups offsite anyway.
### 💾 OS drive
Fast M.2 SSD with good price to value ratio - Kingston A2000 250 GB.
### 💿💿 Storage drives
Well… I planned to use HDD drives, but found they were too noisy for the server which is located in my living room where I spend a lot of time, so I had to get SSDs. Note that the best option for server are SSDs with PLP (Power Loss Protection) but they are more expensive. 🤨
### 🔌 PSU
Reliable beast with passive mode - Seasonic FOCUS GX-550.
### 📦 Case
Good looking, small and very popular among selfhosted community - Fractal Design Node 304 (6x 3.5“/2.5“ disk bays).
### 🔋 UPS
Inexpensive but sufficient CyberPower UT850EG-FR. In my case it’s used only to shut down the server gracefully in the event of a power outage.